The Ancient Settlements at Bay

BY O. G. S. CRAWFORD, B.A., F.S.A.

HARLYN BAY is situated about the middle of the north coast of , near , on the west of the estuary of the Camel, about four miles from . A number of discoveries of great archaeological importance have been made there and in the neighbouring bay of Constantine on the west; but so far no critical summary of the whole evidence in the light of recent knowledge has been attempted. The fullest account is that by the late Rev. R. Ashington Bullen (3rd edition, published at Harlyn Bay by Colonel Bellers in 19121). The site is one of considerable interest to the geologist as well as the archaeologist; and the scenery is very beautiful. The discoveries will be described in the following order : 1. The cemetery and midden at Harlyn Bay. 2. The midden on Constantine Island and on the adjacent mainland. 3. The midden and medieval remains near Constantine Church. 4. The barrows on the cliffs between Harlyn Bay and Mother Ivey's Bay.

1. The Cemetery and Midden at Harlyn Bay The cemetery was found in levelling the ground for building a house in 190c. The graves consisted of rectangular excavations in the ground, the sides being lined with upright slate slabs. They were covered with other slabs, sometimes inclined at an angle of 45° (but this is probably due to accidental slipping). The arrangement of the graves was fairly regular, and they were orientated to the present magnetic north. The bodies were buried in a crouched position, lying on the side with the knees bent up. No whole pots appear to have been buried with them, but bronze and iron pins were found in 3 number of cases. It is probable that many of the rings and pins were used together as a kind of brooch, to fasten the dress at the shoulder. The earliest possible date of the cemetery is fixed by the discovery in and around the graves of potsherds with incised geometric decoration, of the same Late Celtic type as occurs in the Glastonbury lake-village.

1 References in this aiticle are to this guide-book when not otherwise specified. 284 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL Unfortunately no record seems to have been kept—or at any rate published—of the exact contents of each grave or of the circum- stances in which the potsherds were found. The nearest parallel to these cist-graves is that discovered about the same time at Sheepwash, near Freshwater in the Isle of Wight.1 The date of this slightly larger and more massive cist was fixed by the discovery in it of a two-handled vessel of Late Celtic type. Burials of any kind belonging to this period are very rare in the south and south-west of . The age of the cemetery is also indicated by the presence in some of the graves of ring-headed pins of bronze and iron. One, of bronze, was found 28th September 1909, and is of the swan-neck type. A bronze ring was also found. A similar pin, but with a shorter shaft, was found in the Taunton hoard,2 with socketed celts, sickles, a tanged razor, and other objects of the Late Bronze Age. The presence here of similar pins in bronze and iron shows that the cemetery cannot be earlier than the transitional period between the Bronze and Iron Ages. But it is probable that in Cornwall, as in the similar region of Brittany, the firmly-rooted Bronze Age culture lasted on much longer than elsewhere. The use of bronze implements probably continued in both regions far into the Hallstatt and La Tene periods, and possibly in Cornwall down to Roman times.3 That was the natural result of the presence of copper and tin ores in both. Dechelette drew attention to the almost complete absence of pre- historic iron objects in Brittany and the Cotentin, and contrasted it with the great abundance of bronze implements found (see his maps). The cemetery at Harlyn Bay certainly belongs to the date 400-150 B.C, and probably falls within the latter portion of this period. A similar date is suggested by two bronze brooches from Harlyn Bay, described in Proc. Soc. Ant., xxi, 372-4 and fig. on p. 373. 'The brooches are not of British type. Their nearest analogues are found in the Iberian peninsula . . . and may be referred to a time when the Hallstatt models were being circulated over Europe and being modified locally. The cross-bow type is actually found at Hallstatt (Brit. Mus. Iron Age Guide, fig. 28, no. 5). The interments in which tnese brooches were found date probably from the third century B.C.' In passing, the evidence of trade-route relations with Spain may be noted; it will be referred to again later in this paper.

1 Proc. Soc. Ant., xxv, 189-92. 2 Evans, Bronze, p. 367, fig. 451. 3 See Borlase. Antiquities of Cornwall, p. 26'5. ANCIENT SETTLEMENTS AT HARLYN BAY 285 Though the evidence points definitely to the Iron Age, further and more systematic excavation is desirable to settle this point. About 130 graves are said to have been discovered, and the site is probably by no means exhausted. There are indications of other cemeteries on the north coast of Cornwall which are still practically untouched. Thecephalic index of eleven of the skullsmeasuredbyDr.Haddon

*. x x 'Limifc cfarea covered by sand-dunes ~.*-~ LOOJ water-mark of ordinary tides y.\\\. Sand (elsewhere ' ' ' ' the jhore is rocky]

FIG. 1. Map of Harlyn Bay and neighbourhood. ranges from 70 to 82-22, five of these are dolichocephalic, five mesocephalic, and one brachycephalic. That of four others lies between 72-9 and 76-7.' Dr. Beddoe concluded that the average stature of the men was 5 ft. 4-5 in., and of the women 5 ft. 1-5 in. Mr. R. W. Hooley points out that this average stature agrees with that of the Romano-British skeletons found by Pitt-Rivers at Woodyates. The graves appear to have been dug from an ancient land- surface, now buried under blown sand to a depth of 12 ft., and 1 Dr. Haddon also examined two skulls from Constantine Church and one from ' Constantine', presumably the island or adjacent midden on the mainland. 286 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL apparently the remnant of a ' raised beach', for it is described in the diagram on p. 48 of the guide-book as consisting of 'dark sand ' (in contrast with the bright yellow sand of subaerial origin). The raised beach at has the same appearance, and probably underlies the recent blown sand everywhere across the isthmus. It is difficult to decide anything about the midden near the cemetery owing to the absence of any plans or accurately measured sections in the report. It appears certain, however, that the blown sand had not overwhelmed the site when the cemetery was formed.

2. Constantine Island and the midden on the mainland opposite

Constantine Island lies at the northern end of Constantine Bay, and is separated from the mainland at high tide by a few yards only of shallow water. The whole island lies between high and low watermark, and at low tide the western or seaward end is left some distance away from the sea. It is about 40 yards long by 15 or 20 wide; and consists of steeply-inclined slaty rocks covered by a few feet of sea-sand, the remains of a raised beach. The surface of the island is covered with close turf. At the north-west end of the island there formerly stood a. rude structure built of slate slabs, but no traces of it now survive. It appears to have been destroyed in the winter of 1901-2, and the site has now been denuded by the action of the weather. It was about 13 ft. long by 3 ft. wide, and roughly ellipsoidal in shape. On one side near the wall were said to be the remains of a hearth. Inside the hut were found bones of the ox, sheep, pig, rabbit, and horse; also limpet shells, ' a hand hammer made from a raised- beach pebble of hard Cataclews stone (vogesite)', and several lumps of clay.1 In the sides of the cliff, where the raised beach has been eroded by wind and rain, are large quantities of flint flakes; but it would be rash to say that they were contemporary with the formation of the raised beach. When I visited the island on 7th July 1917, I found a hammer-stone, apparently like that described above, also made from a natural beach-pebble of a hard igneous rock (fig. 2).2 As shown in the illustration the end is worn con- cave, evidently by hammering on a convex surface such as a large boulder. I suspect that mussel and limpet shells were pounded for mixing with the clay of which pots were made. If so, the

1 Harlyn Bay, pp. 52, 83, 84. 2 See Proc. Soc. Ant., xxxii, 93. ANCIENT SETTLEMENTS AT HARLYN BAY 287 name of ' potter's hut', given for no sufficient reason by the finders, has in reality some justification. A *piece of slate with a bevelled edge'r was also found in this hut and regarded, prob- ably rightly, as a potter's tool. There are the usual abundant remains of mussels and limpets everywhere on the island, also a few specimens of Purpura lapillus. In the museum at Harlyn are the remains of an iron dagger and a bronze object, both said to be from Constantine Island. It is highly probable that they belonged together ; the latter is crescent- shaped, with three rivet-holes. Both belong in type to the period of La Tene. In the same museum are potsherds of characteristic Glastonbury ware, with incised ornament, found on the island. There is also a lump of some vitreous substance from the same site. On the mainland close by, the remains of the same raised beach are visible in the sides of the ' cliff"', covered with sand-dunes of recent origin. The blown sand appears, how- ever, to be of more ancient date here than at Harlyn, for I noticed that the limpet shells continued to occur in it right up to the top. Some of them lay one inside the other, and must have been so placed by former occupants of the site. At the foot of the best section exposed I found a sherd of rough pottery, FIG. in pieces ; it appeared to rest upon the top of the raised beach surface, but it might quite well have fallen from a higher level. It is part of the rim of a small bowl and does not appear to have been wheel-turned. It is stated2 that coarse, hand-made pottery occurs at the lower levels of this midden and wheel-turned pottery in the upper ; but more careful excavation is needed. Moreover, the potsherds in question are nowhere available for inspection. It is clear that the remains found on Constantine Island and the mainland opposite are in part contemporary, though it is possible that the lower levels may contain relics of a still earlier period. Up to the present no satisfactory evidence has been brought forward to show that either the Harlyn Bay midden or any other settlement in this district is older than the period of La Tene. Harlyn Bay, p. 21, fig. 2. 2 Ibid. p. 84. VOL. I X 288 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

3. Constantine's Church A short distance inland from Constantine Island are the ruins of an ancient chapel dedicated to Constantine. The chapel lies in a small artificial hollow amongst the sand-dunes, close to the banks of a small rivulet where is a sacred well or spring with stone seats round it. It is built of flat slate slabs without mortar. Under its western end are two partially buried boulders of Cataclews stone. They are doubtless the sacred nucleus round which the chapel was built, and must have been regarded with superstitious awe by he inhabitants. The Christian priests, being unable to stop these furtive rites, made them orthodox by changing the name and building a chapel. In the sand on the south side I found a number of typical medieval potsherds, some glazed and decorated with painted designs, others of rougher make and gritty. Both kinds are, however, certainly medieval in date, and there is no need to conclude that they belong to three periods, ' medieval, Roman, and neolithic'.' A ' human skull, animal bones, and pottery' were found here,by Mr. Spence Bate in the middle of the nineteenth century.2 Some skulls, ' probably of the Christian era ',3 were found here and described by Dr. Haddon. Their cephalic indices were 80-4 and 81-2. Though the stones in the chapel suggest a prehistoric settle- ment, no remains undoubtedly earlier than medieval have been found here. But they may exist, and I think that the old land- surface under the sand-dunes was once continuous between Harlyn Bay and Constantine Bay. Prehistoric remains may therefore be expected.

4. The barrows on the cliffs above Harlyn Bay A. Bloodhound Cove (1901).—In December 1901, a fall of the clifF above Bloodhound Cove revealed the existence of an urn. It was removed on 1st January 1902 by Mr. Hellyar and his sons with Mr. Mallet. The exact spot is a small promontory imme- diately below the ' B ' in ' Bloodhound' (Ordnance Survey, 6 in. map, Cornwall, Sheets xvmA SE. and xvm SW.). It is now quite bare of soil, but can be identified by means of the photograph reproduced as plate 19 of Harlyn Bay. The urn (ibid, plate 18, figs. 1 and 3) was inverted over burnt bones, and is reproduced here as fig. 3. On p. 99 of the handbook it is said that amongst the burnt bones were 'a bronze pin 1-5 in. long and two fragments of 1 Harlyn Bay, p. 107. 2 Report of the British Association, 1864, p. 88. 3 Harlyn Bay, pp. 72-108. ANCIENT SETTLEMENTS AT HARLYN BAY 289 other pins'. These have disappeared, but four fragments of the urn survive, and were in the possession of Mr. Hellyar of Harlyn House in 1917, where I inspected and made drawings of them. It is of coarse, heavy, and gritty ware, and two fragments have broad handles attached, with horizontal openings 08 in. in diameter ; the handles are 3 in. (fig. 3 (a) ) and 2-1 in. wide, and the

FIG. 3 {a). upper part of the rim is ornamented with two bands of chevrons, beneath which is an irregular double row of much larger chevrons of impressed cord-pattern. The lip is widely splayed, the inside being ornamented with a double row of chevrons. The width of the lip is 0-9 in., and the average thickness of the sides 0-5 in. The dimensions of the whole urn are given as follows * : maximum diameter, 16 in. ; minimum diameter, 14 in. ; depth, 9 in. ; thick- ness of material, 0-5 in. I did not, however, see any signs of the bottom at Harlyn House, and I am quite sure that the urn must originally have been much higher than is stated. The drawing of it in the hand- book (plate 18, fig. 3, copied from a sketch by the the Rev. W.

1 Harlyn Bay, p. 99. X 2 290 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL Jago) is inaccurate and impossible. The interior surface of the urn is blackened by fire. B. East of Bloodhound Cove (1887).—Another urn, also at Harlyn House, was discovered in 1887 about 250 yards east of the former. It is shown in fig. 4 (section only). This is the one of which a drawing appears in the handbook on plate 18, fig. 2.1 It stood ' mouth upward, covered by a wide, flat stone. . . . The heavy mounds of sand above were seen to contain some stonework'. There are now only two fragments sur- viving, one of which has a handle, 4-5 in. wide, with perfora- tion 1 • 1 in. in diameter. The general scheme of ornament is not unlike that on the first urn, but instead of the double row of large chevrons is a row of triangles with rows of punctured dots parallel with one of the sides. The rim bends outwards at a point i-6 in. below the lip : the inside of this projecting portion is ornamented with a double band of small impressed chevrons, and the outside with four rows. A similar double row of chevrons occurs at the widest part of the urn, immediately below the triangles. The dimensions given are as follows : Height, 20-25 in- ' diameter at mouth 15 in. and at base 6-75 in. With the urn were found an ' incense-cup', a bronze dagger, a bronze pin, a slate knife-sharpener, and possibly a perforated stone bead or spindle-whorl. The 'incense-cup' (fig. 5) is perfect, with a height of 1-4 in.; diameter at top 2-6 in. and at bottom (external) 1-75 in. It is made of yellowish clay, free from grit, and has, at 04 in. below the lip, two holes side by side, 0-2 in. in diameter. It is ornamented round the upper part by three girth-bands of cord ornament, beneath which is a single row of similarly made chevrons. The upper part of the lip is splayed inwards, and is ornamented (A-B) with three parallel rows of cord ornament. The bronze dagger (fig. 6) is 4.2 in. long and O-2 in. thick at the midrib. There are two rivets attached to it. The point was found with it but has since been broken off and lost. Mr. Hellyar told me that it was found resting across the top of the incense- cup. The perforated greenish-yellow stone (fig. 7) is almost certainly a spindle-whorl. It is, however, by no means certain that it was found in association with the other remains, as the handbook says (p. 96).*

1 A fuller account is given in the Journ. Royal Inst. Cornwall, vol. x, 1890-I, pp. 199-207 (pis. 4 and 5). 2 The Journal distinctly says that the spindle-whorl was ' picked up at the same place subsequently'. ANCIENT SETTLEMENTS AT HARLYN BAY 291

The bronze pin is 1-7 in. long and is much corroded. It must be distinguished from those, now apparently lost, which were found in the first urn at Bloodhound Cove, one of which was only 1-5 in. long. This specimen, with all the other objects

FIG. 4. FIG. J.

FIG. 3 FIG. 6. FIG. 7.

FIG. 8. from the interment now being described, is in the possession of Mr. Hellyar of Harlyn House. The slate sharpener (fig. 8) is much rubbed but does not appear to have been shaped. It is 3-5 in. long and i-2 in. wide. C. Food-vessel and perforated stone axe-hammer.—Mr. Hellyar also has in his possession a broken vessel of thin brownish, gritty 292 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL clay (fig. 9), found in a barrow with a perforated stone axe- hammer (fig. 10). The pot is ornamented round the shoulder with rows of grain- shaped grooves in groups of three. They are not formed by finger-tip impressions, but have evidently been stamped. The vessel is 6-2 in. in diameter at the top and 3-4 in. at the base. The axe-hammer (fig. 10) is made of yellowish grit and is 3-8 in. in length. The width of the cutting-edge is 1-7 in. and the diameter of the perforation 0-5 in. The material may be red

FIG. 9. elvan from the raised beach. It is of the Fredsgard type.1 A similar axe was found in a barrow at Jack Straw's Castle in Wiltshire, associated with a bronze knife-dagger.2 The site of this discovery is not known, but it was somewhere on Mr. Hellyar's land, probably near Trevose Head. Mr. R. W. Hooley, F.G.S., who has most kindly read through this paper in MS. and who knows Harlyn Bay, writes : ' I determined the perforated axe-hammer to be made of an igneous rock, apparently identical with the intrusive dyke which forms the point near the " Round Hole" of Trevose Bay. I understood from Mr. Hellyar that this specimen was found in the barrow opened by visitors (with his permission) on the cliff

1 R. A. Smith, Proc. Preh. Soc. E.-Anglia, vol. ii, pp. 4Q7, 498 (fig. 111 b). 2 See Colt Hoare, And. Wilts, vol. i, pp. 39, 40. ANCIENT SETTLEMENTS AT HARLYN BAY 293 above the Cataclews quarry', i. e. the same barrow as supplied the Cataclews cinerary urn described below. D. Cataclews cinerary urn.—A barrow on Cataclews cliff was excavated by a member of the Zoological Society of London, and a fine cinerary urn found (fig. n). The sides are thinner and the paste is smoother than usual. It is of a light yellow colour,

FIG. 10.

FIG. 1 1. and the rim, which overhangs slightly, is decorated with triangles filled with parallel lines of cord-ornament, the impressions being unusually shallow. Below are a number of deep wedge-shaped marks. It has two handles, whose horizontal width is 2-2 in. The upper side of the lip is also decorated with impressions. Its diameter is about 12 in. across the top. No details of its discovery are known, and an attempt to mend it was unsuccessful. 294 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL

5. The two gold crescents and flat bronze axe The special object of my second visit to Harlyn Bay on 17th July 1917 was to obtain if possible first-hand information on two points. (1) The exact site where the gold crescents were discovered, and (2) the evidence for the association of the crescents with the flat bronze axe. Mr. Hellyar distinctly remembers the discovery in 1865. His father had made a pond close to the boat- house now standing just south of the house called Cataclews Fish-cellars. The pond was damaged by the sea and had to be re-made ; it was then that the crescents were found. A workman came into the farm one day wearing the gold crescents round his calves, thinking they were brass !1 The 'other things ' found at the same time were thrown over the cliff as being worthless. These are vaguely described as ' battle-axes ', but the description is hardly worth much as evidence, and their material is unknown. Other things besides the crescents were apparently found, but they were not of gold, and the flat bronze axe was amongst them, all being found in a square stone cist. This is the only instance in Europe where crescents have been found in association with any other objects. It is therefore satis- factory to be able to report that the evidence for this association, which has been doubted, has been confirmed by two eye-witnesses. It follows that these crescents belong to the Early Bronze Age, when flat axes were in use. In addition to the middens at Harlyn Bay and Constantine there is a large midden inland amongst the sand-dunes about a quarter of a mile east of Constantine Island. Remains of limpets and cockle shells are abundant in the rabbit-scrapes. Mr. C. G. Lamb of Cambridge pointed out the site of a flint-factory on the cliffs about 700 yards south-east of Dinas Head, where large numbers of flint flakes occur. Dr. Haddon has in his possession a large number of worked flints and flakes from here. They are found most thickly round a small cove, and gradually die away southwards ; but they begin to appear again on the cliffs some 200 yards north of Constantine Island, on which also they are found. The flint from which these flakes were struck occurs as pebbles of no great size in the sand of the raised beach. The pebbles are suitable for the manufacture of arrow-heads and small scrapers. All the flint flakes are small and have certainly been struck from these raised beach pebbles. In some cases part of

1 It is curious that bronze axes and other bronze objects should often be mistaken for gold, but that real gold is regarded as brass! The Battle hoard (Sussex) was not recognized as gold by the finder. ANCIENT SETTLEMENTS AT HARLYN BAY 295 the water-worn cortex remains to prove it. A tanged and barbed flint arrow-head of very fine workmanship, found in the neigh- bourhood, is preserved in the Harlyn Bay Museum.1 Two other remains must be mentioned. One consists of a group of stones of white quartz which appear to have been set up in some sort of order on Trevose Head about 230 yards south- west of the coastguard station. Dr. Haddon thinks they may represent the remains of a small allee couverte. The stones are un- covered and have been disarranged. They are of no great size, and it is difficult to account for their presence without invoking human agency. Lying about on the headland and built into the field-walls are a number of large blocks of quartz and of red elvan, possibly the remains of megalithic structures. Almost opposite Constantine Island, near the ruins of a modern hut, are the remains of what appears to have been a grave or hut of slate. The slabs are much disordered, and it is impossible to make anything of their arrangement ; but they lie on the top of the raised beach, and must have been placed there for a purpose. There are some Roman coins in the Harlyn Museum, without details, but all were probably found within a short distance of the museum. General conclusions. From the diagram on p. 48 of the hand- book it appears that the old surface-level from which the graves of the cemetery were dug was a raised beach of dark sea-sand. This is now covered with about 12 ft. or 13 ft. of light yellow shell- sand of recent, subaerial origin, with no midden-relics or other human remains. The relations of the midden at the Harlyn cemetery to this recent overlying deposit on the one hand and to , the raised beach on the other are not determined, nor is any coherent account of the midden itself to be found in the handbook. One fact, however, seems certain : while at Constantine Bay the recent blown sand contains whole shells and other midden-relics, at Harlyn Bay it contains none at all. It is clear that the sand- dunes had not reached the site of the cemetery before the graves were dug. Moreover, the blown sand which now covers the whole of the isthmus between the former island of Trevose Head and the mainland, has all originated in marine action at Constantine Bay.

1 In passing it may be observed that the use of these small ' drift' pebbles accounts for some of the so-called ' pygmy ' flints elsewhere. These generally occur in a region where rlint does not occur naturally in veins in the chalk, but only as derived pebbles. Thus, ' pygmies' are reported from near Iffley, Oxon. (Mr. J. Montgomerie Bell), and in the country to the north of Oxford. I found a very perfect diminutive scraper in a field near Coombe, Oxon., where a few stray unworked flints could also be picked up, doubtless brought there by glacial action. 296 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL From there it has gradually advanced eastwards in the form of dunes, driven by the prevailing westerly winds. The modern beach-sand of Harlyn Bay itself is probably derived from the cliffs above, which are covered with dunes, themselves derived ulti- mately from Constantine Bay. It is, therefore, not unlikely that the upper levels of the Constantine midden are contemporary with the Harlyn cemetery, while the lower levels may be earlier. It may be conjectured that the earliest settlements were on the shores of Constantine Bay, and that as the dunes steadily advanced east- wards the inhabitants retreated in front of them to Harlyn. It is possible, therefore, that many parts of the isthmus, now covered by dunes sometimes as high as 50 ft., may have been the site of settlements at one time or another. It would be possible to determine this by digging a chain of trial-pits at selected spots right across the isthmus. Such pits would also be of considerable geological interest; and would throw much light on the age, depth, and extent of the raised beach, which might even be found to contain valuable ' human ' evidence. Trial-pits dug at the in- land midden referred to on p. 294 and at that near Constantine Church, would in themselves be of great interest. It is very desirable that excavations should be undertaken at Harlyn under the aegis of a scientific body, and that they should be entrusted to a properly qualified excavator. The natural resources of its immediate surroundings explain the importance of Harlyn Bay in prehistoric times. Geographically the position has many advantages.' It is a shel- tered roadstead, protected from the winds and currents of the open sea by Trevose Head. It is thus a suitable port of call for small ships. Close by is one of the five harbours of , the estuary of the Camel, and Trevose Head is a fine landmark for ships. That there was direct intercourse between Harlyn and Ireland is proved by the crescents made doubtless from the gold of the Wicklow mountains. Harlyn is, moreover, a very probable termination for an isthmus road across the Cornish peninsula. Thatsuch roads existed in the Mediterranean is shown by M. Victor Berard * ; and it is reasonable to suppose that the same causes which produced them there, would have operated here too. The promontory of Land's End is not one that small vessels would care to round if it could be avoided. As a matter of fact a track which may well be of great antiquity runs from Pentewan Beach along the ridge between the Pentewan stream and the sea, east of St. Austell, over Hensbarrow Downs through Roche, Tregonethaj east of the Nine Maidens, and thence to and Harlyn. 1 JL.es Phe'ntciens et I'Odyssee. ANCIENT SETTLEMENTS AT HARLYN BAY 297 Such a road would connect a port for South Wales and Ireland on the north with one for Brittany and Spain on the south. It is rather a remarkable confirmation of this hypothesis that objects of Irish and Spanish type should be found less than half a mile apart at the assumed northern terminus of this transpeninsula trade-route. These geographical advantages were enhanced by others of a minor character. At Cataclews is an outcrop of a dyke of hard igneous rock—very suitable material for stone axes. A number of axes of igneous rock have been found in Wessex and further east in England ; and it is reasonable to suppose that many of them came, if not from Cataclews itself, at any rate from some other place in Cornwall or Devon, the only other probable source being Brittany. Attention has already been called to the resemblance between a stone axe (fig. 10) found somewhere near Trevose Head and another found in Wiltshire. The barrow in which the latter was found, called ' Jack Straw's Castle ', stands immediately upon a very ancient trackway called the 'Hardway', which is almost certainly a continuation of the Hampshire Harroway. This in turn joins the Pilgrim's Way at Farnham. Westwards beyond Jack Straw's Castle, the same old road may be followed on the map across Somerset and into Devon and Cornwall to its terminus at . It was the link between east and west, and its course is studded thickly with prehistoric finds, especially of the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. Finds of British coins are very numerous along its course. If the Cornish tin was carried by land to an eastern port, that was the route adopted, and along the same road doubtless came in earlier days the stone axe found in Jack Straw's Castle. Cataclews stone makes, moreover, admirable mortars. One such mortar has actually been found on the farm of Mr. Biddick of Trevose. It is 14-6 cm. (5.75 in.) high and 14-2 cm. (5.5 in.) wide. The sides are 2-6 cm. (1 in.) thick in the middle and the base 4-6 cm. (1-75 in.) thick. It is cut out of a solid lump of rock, and is in the possession of the Rev. A. D. Taylor of Whitworth, to whom I am indebted for permission to draw and measure it. It was certainly used for pounding some hard material, possibly ore.1 However this may be, copper and iron smelting may have been one of the industries of the people who after death were laid to rest in the Harlyn cemetery. Iron ore occurs naturally in quartz veins on

1 Mr. Lamb writes : ' There are many other mortars of Cataclews stone to be seen. There are several in the entrance of the [once] buried church of St. Enedoc, near Rock [on the east side of the Camel opposite Padstow].' It appears, therefore, that the mortars are of medieval date. 298 THE ANTIQUARIES JOURNAL Constantine Island and probably elsewhere in the neighbourhood. An iron knife was found on the island and iron occurs fairly fre- quently in the graves. This does not of course prove that it was smelted on the spot; but it is comparatively rare in other parts of England in pre-Roman times. In any case so obvious a source would hardly be overlooked. A piece of tin ore was found in the Harlyn cemetery. Tin ore does not occur naturally in the immediate neighbourhood, and it must therefore have been brought there. Further excavation, if it reveals the site of the settlement, may reveal also traces of smelting. The distance by sea to the natural supplies is not great. The oak-forests on the steep sides of the valleys would provide the necessary fuel. We know that smelting operations were con- ducted at trading stations elsewhere, notably at Hengistbury Head in Hampshire (the port of Salisbury Plain) ; and that in the Bronze Age palstaves were cast in clay moulds at Southampton. Iron occurs naturally at Hengistbury, but the raw copper must

FIG. 12,. have been taken by sea to Southampton from Brittany or Corn- wall. Harlyn should in fact prove another Hengistbury, if geographical position means anything at all. The natural supply of flint is another factor which would add considerably to the attractions and possibilities of the site in pre- historic times, in a region otherwise almost devoid of it. Slate was another useful stone that is found at Harlyn. Imple- ments of slate were said to have been found in the cemetery, though some of those exhibited in the museum are clearly natural. Amongst them are the slate dagger {Harlyn Bay, pi. 5, p. 31) and the slate needle {ibid., p. 23, fig. 4). The slate sharpener found in the barrow with the dagger has already been mentioned. Slate was in great demand in the Bronze Age for sharpening daggers, and doubtless many of the honestones found in the Wiltshire barrows by Sir Richard Colt Hoare were carried thither from Cornwall along the Harroway. Slate was also used for spindle- ANCIENT SETTLEMENTS AT HARLYN BAY 299 whorls. One such of a soft stone was found on land adjoining Trevose by Mr. Biddick (fig. 12). It is 4 cm. (1-54 in.) in diameter and 0-96 cm. (0-37 in.) thick. It is ornamented by incised lines radiating irregularly from the centre, one face having been split off. It now belongs to Mrs. Taylor of Whitworth. The presence of Purpura lapidula in the middens suggests that dyeing was one of the industries at Harlyn ; perhaps derived from the Mediterranean. I must • not conclude without expressing my grateful acknow- ledgements to those who have assisted me in writing this account, and in particular to Mr. R. W. Hooley, F.G.S., Mr. C. Lamb, Mr. Hellyar, and Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, whose help has been in- valuable.